All posts tagged Peterson

The observed differences in some of the subpopulations of T and NK cells between patients and healthy controls could define a distinct immunological profile that can help in the diagnostic process of ME/CFS patients, contribute to the recognition of the disease and to the search of more specific treatments. Rivas et. Al. 2018

Problems with natural killer (NK) cell functioning have been like an anchor in the storm for immunologists interested in chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS). While other immune results like cytokines have flipped and flopped all over the place, the NK cytotoxic results have been solid. Almost every study has found that when given the chance to kill infected cells, the NK cells in ME/CFS patients poop out. (The studies which have not found differences in NK cell functioning have tended not to use whole blood or used older samples – suggesting that something in the blood could be impairing NK cell functioning in ME/CFS.)

The most extensive study – a year-long 2012 study involving Dr. Peterson and Griffith University in Australia – found reduced natural killer cell functioning at all time points. (Peterson has a long history of interest in natural killer cells; he was a co-author of the first study, over thirty years ago, to find deficient NK cell functioning in chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS).)

NK cells are important because they maintain the lines of our initial immune defense, holding the fort, so to speak, until the big guns – the T and B cells- wipe out the infection. – They also regulate the immune response.

Normally our cells signal that they are infected by displaying peptide fragments from the pathogen (using MHC Class 1 molecules) on their surface. NK cells then hunt out and destroy these infected cells. However, some pathogens have learned how to prevent the cells they’ve infected from displaying these peptide fragments.

If NK cells and other parts of the innate immune response can’t hold back the invaders, the pathogens may invade more deeply into the body, potentially causing more problems before the adaptive immune response (T and B-cells) can kick in.

A deficient early response to pathogens would then very likely translate into more symptoms. We don’t know when the problems with NK cell killing got started in ME/CFS, but if they were in place prior to the illness or occurred early in the illness they could have played a role in the inception of ME/CFS as people who have more trouble fighting off a pathogen; i.e. people with more severe symptoms, are more likely to come down with ME/CFS.

Once ME/CFS has begun, the inhibited NIK killing response could mean more trouble removing tumor and infected cells – particularly herpes virus infected cells- as people deficient in NK cells have trouble fighting off herpes viruses.

NK cells, then, are vitally important, but attempts to identify issues other than cytotoxic killing abilities have been less successful. NK cells come in different types (cytotoxic and regulatory) and the balance of these subpopulations is important. Some studies have found differences in these subpopulations in ME/CFS and some have not.

Many of those studies, however, have been small and used less than stringent criteria for defining ME/CFS. A Spanish group decided to rectify those problems with a more definitive study which examined NK cell populations in a larger study (n=149) with patients who met the Canadian Consensus Criteria for ME/CFS. In order to ensure they captured all factors in the blood that might be whacking NK cells, they used whole blood and analyzed it within 6 hours of collection.

Then they tried to reverse engineer their results to see if a diagnostic test could be developed which simply charted which kinds of NK cells a person had. That was pretty good, but then they went further and asked if people who were worse off had different subpopulations of NK cells or more evidence of herpes virus reactivations (EBV, HMCV).

This larger, fresher (quick analysis of blood), stricter (CCC patients only) and more comprehensive study found differences where others had not – and plenty of them. This group validated – with a high degree of certainty (p = 0.0075) – previous findings of an increased subpopulation of NK cells (NK CD56++(high)) which, get this, excrete more cytokines (particularly IFN-y), possibly causing more symptoms, but which have low cytotoxic activity. Because these cells have unusually long life spans and pump out cytokines that cause more T-cell proliferation, higher numbers of them could contribute to autoimmunity and inflammation.

These cells were particularly high in the group of patients whose illness began without evidence of an infection. The Spanish group suggested that activation of the stress response via the HPA axis and raised levels of catecholamines such as norepinephrine (adrenaline) could have triggered the expansion of this potentially autoimmune affecting natural killer cell subset.

No differences were found, however, in the levels of several receptors (NKp46, NKp30, NKp44) that have been found elevated in some autoimmune/inflammatory conditions (Sjogren’s Syndrome, Crohn’s disease) or reduced in chronic infections (HIV, tuberculosis, influenza, etc.).

Increased levels of the CD 69 marker suggested autoimmunity may be present in ME/CFS

Reduced levels of a receptor (NKG2C) were very common (p<0.0001) in ME/CFS. When this receptor, which is only found in NK cells, is activated by the presence of virally infected cells, it triggers an expansion of NK cells. Not surprisingly, NK cells become dotted with this receptor in people with chronic herpesvirus and other infections (HCMV, EBV) but ME/CFS patients’ NK cells had consistently lower levels of this receptor than did the healthy controls. The authors didn’t speculate why this occurred, but it could involve lower levels of infection in ME/CFS – something Ron Davis is finding in his severely ill cohort – or a problem responding to infections that are present.

That second possibility was buttressed by an inverse correlation found between a marker of infection (CD 57+) and the lower expression of a marker (NKp46) which is often reduced in herpesvirus infections. The authors suggested that the scenario found in ME/CFS (increased cd57+, lower NKp46, high NKG2C) could reflect HCMV (cytomegalovirus) reactivation.

Increased levels of the CD69 marker (p= 0.011) provided another suggestion that ME/CFS may be an autoimmune/inflammatory disease. This important marker, which is found on many immune cells, stimulates NK cell cytotoxic activity. More importantly, CD69 has been described as a master regulator for autoimmunity in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) through its upregulation of TGF-B – one of the very few cytokines that has usually been found increased in ME/CFS.

A “descent” in T regulatory cells similar to that found in autoimmune conditions such as lupus and RA was also found. Finally, an inverted Th17/T regulatory cell ratio, which is also found in autoimmune conditions like lupus, wrapped up the autoimmune connections found in this study.

Using a mathematical classification model, the group was able to correctly diagnose 70% of ME/CFS patients and healthy controls simply by using the findings from this in depth study of natural killer cell populations.

Conclusions

This large Spanish study of NK cell subpopulations found numerous irregularities in NK cell types in ME/CFS, several of which pointed to issues with autoimmunity and/or inflammation. As in other studies, this study indicates that larger is indeed better when it comes to studying ME/CFS.

The study validated prior findings of an unusually large set of NK cells which produce more cytokines – conceivably causing more symptoms and immune activation – but which are less effective at killing infected cells. That finding seemed to jive with a picture of highly symptomatic ME/CFS patients who may have trouble fighting off infections.

While no differences were found in the levels of receptors which can be elevated in autoimmune conditions, several other findings suggested that NK cells may be fighting off herpesvirus infections or may be involved in autoimmune/inflammatory processes in ME/CFS.

Finally, using just NK cell subpopulation data, the authors were able to correctly identify 70% of patients and healthy controls, indicating that significant NK cell differences exist. All told, the study identified several natural killer irregularities that could participate in autoimmunity and dysregulate other parts of the immune system.

Simmaron recently held a patient update session with its Scientific Advisory Board and key collaborators in Incline Village, Nevada. The event celebrated the Simmaron Research Foundation’s fifth year anniversary. I don’t know if anyone would have predicted five years ago that patients would be hearing from the likes of Mady Hornig, Maureen Hanson, Konstance Knox and Elizabeth Unger but here they were in little Incline Village talking about their work.

CDC Collaboration

The surprise guest at the event was Elizabeth Unger. Dr. Unger was a fitting guest at the Simmaron’s 5th year anniversary meeting; it’s been, after all, just over five years since she took over the helm of CDC’s Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) program. Who would have thought five years ago that the head of CDC’s CFS program would show up at a Simmaron information meeting.

Certainly not Dr. Peterson. About five years ago I asked him if the CDC had ever shown interest in his work, and he just laughed. His relationship with the CDC was frosty to say the least. That’s not true any longer.

Under Dr. Reeves, the CDC developed a definition in-house that received zero support from researchers (and patients). Under Dr. Unger, the CDC has made ME/CFS experts a core feature of its work, is meeting with patient groups, has worked with CFSAC on its website, and is engaging with patients and experts in its educational materials.

Instead of a stumbling block, Dr. Unger turned out to be a collaborator who’s committed an enormous amount of time, energy and her (limited) budget to learning about ME/CFS doctors and their patients. What a shift that has been.

Dr. Unger threw all the definitions out the window in the multisite ME/CFS expert study. Realizing that doctors, most of whom had decades of experience in this disease, were a better source of what ME/CFS was than any definition, she cleared the decks; anyone the expert doctors believed had ME/CFS, whether they met x or y definition or not, she would study. They were, by default, ME/CFS patients. Dr. Peterson thought it was a brilliant move.

At Dr. Peterson’s invitation, Dr. Unger stayed following a routine site visit to hear the presentations from Simmaron’s Scientific Board and attend the patient gathering. At the patient meeting she had some good news; the first paper from the ME/CFS experts multisite study was finally under review for publication.

It had been a long time coming. Simmaron and Dr. Peterson are already deeply immersed in the greatly expanded second phase of the trial, and had just gotten a contract for the third phase of the study. The study was already slated to continue at least into 2017 and now will continue further.

This now immense study involving over 800 patients and controls will surely supplant the infamous PACE trial as the largest and longest ME/CFS study ever done. With a third phase slated to begin shortly, it’s going to provide an unprecedented look at a very large group of ME/CFS patients, and how they are tested and treated by doctors over time.

Dr. Unger quickly went over a few of the highlights; the greatest heterogeneity, surprisingly, was found within the ME/CFS expert’s sites, not between them. By and large, the practitioners are not seeing different kinds of patients; instead each is seeing a similarly wide variety of patients. How wide? The standard functional tests being done, for instance, indicate that some people with ME/CFS experience high rates of pain while others experience no pain at all.

The constant is that ME/CFS is producing high reductions in vitality and physical functioning but has relatively little effect on mental or emotional functioning. Dr. Unger said the multisite studies will go a long way to helping the public understand how severe a disease ME/CFS is.

Konstance Knox

Konstance Knox, PhD, is collaborating with Simmaron on her insect infection study at Coppe Healthcare. She posited the interesting idea of ME/CFS having a similar trajectory to Lyme Disease. Lyme Disease,she noted, first showed up in pediatrician’s offices in children with arthritis in Old Lyme, Connecticut in the 1970’s. Eventually the children were found to be infected with bacteria carried by ticks.

ME/CFS patients have been showing up in doctor’s offices with unexplained fatigue, post-exertional malaise, pain and debilitating symptoms for years. Could a similar scenario prevail for at least a subset of ME/CFS patients? Knox thinks it might. Her large study, using samples from 300 ME/CFS and healthy controls gathered in the NIH’s XMRV study, is looking for evidence of pathogens that aren’t always tested for in chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS). They include three different kinds of Borrelia bacteria, the Powassan and Dengue viruses, and the most widespread insect borne disease in the U.S., West Nile Virus.

Each demonstrates how rapidly insect borne pathogens can invade a country. Borrelia was identified as the cause of Lyme in 1981, and according to one estimate, is believed to effect 300,000 people a year. West Nile Virus was first found in New York in 1999 and has spread across the country. Now the Zika virus is beginning to touch upon our southern shores in Florida as well.

In Dr. Knox’s mind, the Powassan virus is the big mystery. Carried by the same ticks that cause Lyme disease, Powassan is similar to tick-borne encephalitis virus which has long been shown to cause serious illnesses in Eurasia.

Unlike the Lyme bacteria, which needs the tick to be attached for quite some time for the bacteria to get transmitted, the Powassan virus can be transmitted in just 15 minutes. Knox found that 11% of the 2,000 ticks she studied in Wisconsin carried Lyme disease and 6% carried the Powassan virus. She found 55% of people infected with Lyme disease also were infected with the Powassan virus.

Dr. Knox’s preliminary data of ME/CFS patients with an acute flu-like onset found a low incidence of Lyme disease (3%) but a pretty high incidence (11%) of people who had antibodies which looked like they might be to TBEV; i.e. the Powassan virus. The NIH samples offer an opportunity to study these infections in well characterized patients and controls from multiple clinical sites.

Dr. Mady Hornig

The Hornig/Lipkin team at Columbia’s Center for Infection and Immunity (CII) isn’t just looking at ME/CFS to understand the disease. It’s mining clues from a wide range of disorders – from autism to narcolepsy – to try to understand the disease processes that are occurring. They believe the “omics” revolution – which attempts to understand diseases in terms of their genomics, proteomics, metabolomics (and probably other “omics”) – holds the key to understanding and finding the subsets present in ME/CFS.

Until they get to a cause, Dr. Hornig is unwilling to rule out any possibilities. ME/CFS could be caused by an immune response to a wide range of pathogens (which may be present or not) or to an as yet undiscovered agent. That statement suggested that Dr. Hornig doesn’t consider the earlier CII study which found little or no evidence of pathogens to be the end of the story.

Of course few researchers have looked in the tissues. Dr Chia believes he’s found enteroviruses and Dr. Duffy herpesviruses in the gut tissues of ME/CFS and/or fibromyalgia patients. Hornig and Lipkin have looked in the blood but they’re also raising money to do analyses of the flora in the stool and saliva over time. (Check out the Microbe Discovery Project for more.) Plus, as we’ve seen, a Simmaron/Konstance Knox project is looking for evidence of insect borne illnesses that have not been tested for before.

If pathogens are involved, the heterogeneity in the disease could reflect genetic differences in how each person responded to them, how old the person was when the infection occurred, the state of each person’s microbiome at the time, etc. The take-away message was that different symptoms don’t necessarily mean different diseases.

The CII is doing a lot, but Dr. Hornig started out by focusing on a hot topic these days – metabolomics. The CII team believes that metabolomics may provide the link between what’s happening in the microbiome and the rest of the body. Metabolomics uncovers the breakdown products of metabolism. If a substance, say tryptophan is not being metabolized properly in the gut, it can leave a metabolic signature in the blood that can be picked by metabolomics tests. From the blood it’s apparently a pretty straight shot to the brain.

Marrying gut (microbiome) and blood (metabolomics) data would be the cat’s meow, and it’s begun to happen. Several small studies have been able to link altered gut bacteria to the presence of gut metabolites in the blood. A small Solve ME/CFS Initiative study carried that idea one step forward by adding exercise to the mix. It suggested that exercise could, probably by increasing leaky gut issues, result in increased levels of gut metabolites in the blood.

Dr. Hornig believes that aberrant tryptophan metabolism in the gut could provide a major clue for ME/CFS patients. These metabolic by-products have already been associated with several neurological diseases and are known to cause symptoms similar to those found in chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS). If she finds problems with tryptophan metabolism in the gut and then can pick up their metabolic by products in the patient’s blood she can make a strong case for a gut-brain connection in ME/CFS.

While she was at it, she also noted that these bacteria can affect NAD+ and energy production. To sum up, Dr. Hornig is gathering data on a process that could be affecting cognition, the gut and energy production in ME/CFS.

No Mady Hornig talk it seems is complete without an emotional moment. Every event I’ve seen her at has left her and others in tears at some point, and it happened again. I watched an older gentleman come over and clasp her hands. Five minutes later there they were hugging each other and sobbing away.

Top Poop Crew

Dr. Peterson and Simmaron won the top poop collector award

While on the microbiome she noted, with a smile, that of all the groups they were working with, Simmaron was the best poop collector; Dr. Peterson gathered more stool samples (hundreds of them apparently) from more patients than any other doctor they were working with. (Go Simmaron :))

Maureen Hanson

Maureen Hanson, PhD, presented some interesting news recently when she announced during an SMCI webinar that her small metabolomics had duplicated the Naviaux study’s core finding that ME/CFS was a disorder of reduced metabolism; i.e. it’s a hypometabolic disorder.

That finding helps us understand her Simmaron talk a bit better. Hanson explored the subset question more deeply than anyone I’ve seen before. Chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), she said, could be a bunch of different diseases, or one core pathology could be driving it.

Whatever it is, the diversity of symptoms found in the disease has produced a credibility problem because diseases which produce lots of symptoms have long been considered “psychosomatic”. The many different triggers ME/CFS and outbreaks has been associated with, and the many different bodily systems it effects, have been confusing as well.

Hanson thought it was intriguing that the symptom presentations seen in different locales appears to be similar! If ME was the result of different agents producing different diseases in different places then the locales should look very different but they don’t. Hanson then fished out a bevy of factors which could affect symptom presentation; the age at which ME/CFS occurred, gender, genetic background, co-infections present, pathogen variations, treatments tried, degree of exercise attempted – all of these could conceivably tweak one disease into producing different symptoms. (Consider what happens to some people who collapse and appear to revert to a different state after overexertion or after using the wrong drug.)

She noted that her mitochondrial DNA study suggested that slight alterations in ME/CFS patients’ mitochondrial DNA could result in different symptoms. That sure presents just the tip of the iceberg with regards to genetics. (Ron Davis and the Open Medicine Foundation will be attempting to marry genetic data and metabolomics in one of their studies.)

Hanson’s microbiome project was powered by a small NIH grant and took place in a Cornell lab famous for its microbiome work. The project was a small one but it made a big splash and was picked up by over 50 media outlets.

The study’s finding – a reduced diversity of bacterial species (about 20% less) similar to that found in two potentially devastating gut diseases (Crohn’s and ulcerative colitis) gave Hanson the opportunity to tell the media again and again that ME/CFS is a real disease. The study also found that ME/CFS patients’ gut bacteria tended to be more dominated by a smaller number of bacteria.

Bacteria of the Ruminococcaceae family – important in fighting inflammation – were significantly reduced in ME/CFS. The representatives of another bacterial family called Enterobacteriaceae – which contains some rather nasty pathogens but hundreds of other species – doubled in ME/CFS patients.

At the genus level, Faecalibacterium prausnitzii, a butyrate bacteria, which produces an anti-inflammatory protein and protects the intestine was reduced in ME/CFS. A similar finding is found in irritable bowel syndrome.

The low butyrate findings in both Hornig and Hanson’s microbiome studies suggest they are both on the right track. That’s actually a big win given how complex (and new) microbiome analysis is, but perhaps it is not surprising given the pedigree of the labs doing the analyses.

As did a Solve ME/CFS Initiative study, Hanson also found evidence that gut materials were leaking into the blood of ME/CFS patients – a process that could spark an inflammatory process that makes its way all the way up to the brain.

[Butyrate – One neurobiologist calls butyric acid – which is produced by butyrate bacteria – “an ancient controller of metabolism and inflammation”. He reports that butyrate is the primary source of energy for the lining of the large intestine. Butyrate is such an effective anti-inflammatory that butyrate enemas (which reportedly smell horrible) and oral supplements are being used to combat inflammatory bowel diseases like Crohn’s and ulcerative colitis. Butyrate also appears to reduce intestinal permeability – which Hornig’s/Lipkin’s and Hanson’s studies suggest many be happening in some people with ME/CFS.

Hanson is a careful researcher and she spoke carefully regarding treatment. She noted that the inability of researchers at this point to clearly determine which gut species are present hampers them from recommending treatments. They can determine which families are present but because bacterial families can contain many different kinds of gut species -some of which have opposite functions – the study’s impact on treatment recommendations is not clear.

Atypical vs Typical Patients – the Peterson Subset

For many years Dr. Peterson has speculated about what he calls typical vs atypical ME/CFS patients. It’s not clear to me what the groups consist of but my sense is that typical ME/CFS patients tend to plateau over time and they tend to have familiar co-morbid disorders such as fibromyalgia, migraine, IBS, etc. Atypical ME/CFS patients, on the other hand, tend to have other serious disorders and/or have really serious cases of ME/CFS. Whitney Dafoe and Corinne Blandino are two examples of atypical patients; Whitney because he’s so ill and Corinne Blandino because she has a strange spinal lesion.

At another event, Mady Hornig talked about the dramatic differences found in the CSF of classical versus atypical patients. Virtually all the immune factors tested were higher in the complex atypical vs the classical patients. In fact, the findings in the two subsets were so different that the atypical patients had to be removed from a study comparing healthy controls and ME/CFS patients. Simmaron and the Center for Infection and Immunity have taken a deeper look at the cerebrospinal fluid in these two types of patients.

I asked Dr. Hornig if she thought the atypical patients had a different disease or were an offshoot of more typical patients? She simply said that she thought that the atypical patients needed to be more closely watched. Later Dr. Peterson suggested, however, that they may be profoundly different biologically.

We should know more about the similarities and differences between these two subsets soon. A Simmaron/CII spinal fluid study comparing the two in greater detail has wrapped up. The metabolomics data from the Ron Davis/Open Medicine Foundation severely ill patient study and the Naviaux study examining more typical ME/CFS patients will give us some guidance as well. Plus, the CDC will be comparing the test results of severely ill patients and healthy controls in the third phase of its multisite study.

A talk with Dr. Peterson found him in a more optimistic frame of mind than I’d seen before. While the promised funding package at the NIH hasn’t shown up yet, he was clearly impressed by the Nath Intramural study, the continuing work of the CDC, and the work Ron Davis is doing at the Open Medicine Foundation.

We didn’t talk about Ampligen and Rituximab but advances with both those drugs may make his job easier. Peterson’s stated that his patients have about a 70% response rate to Ampligen. That high percentage probably reflects two things: Dr. Peterson’s feel for who will respond to the drug, and his ability to dose this drug optimally for each patient.

At the IACFS/ME Conference, Hemispherx Biopharma will report a breakthrough in their understanding of the drug effects in ME/CFS. It appears that they’ve found a way to identify which ME/CFS patients respond to Ampligen – a finding that should help doctors and patients decide whether to try the drug, and make their next clinical trial that much easier. Dr. Patrick of Canada appears to have done the same with Rituximab – a very expensive powerful drug that many doctors are probably leery of trying in their patients without more guidance.

Dr. Peterson will be co-leading a session with Drs. Fluge and Mella on Rituximab and Emerging Treatments, and will be a panelist on a session devoted to diagnosing difficult cases of ME/CFS, and will be highlighting a fellowship opportunity with Simmaron, at the International IACFS/ME Conference at the end of October.

With groundbreaking spinal fluid publications, more collaborative studies lined up, and additional findings on their way to publication, the Simmaron Research Foundation (SRF) has made pivotal contributions to the rising science of ME/CFS in its first five years. The Simmaron Research Foundation is committed to translational research efforts that produce solid gains for patients. With collaborators like these, the next five years promise much.

Round-Table

Some of the top ME/CFS practitioners had a meeting of the minds on how best to treat ME/CFS at the Simmaron Roundable

Simmaron Research likes to get people talking. At the FDA Workshop earlier this year, they booked a room, invited patients and physicians and then held a physicians round-table with some of the field’s top doctors.

Part II of a three-part series focuses on Dr. Peterson of Sierra Internal Medicine /Simmaron Research Institute, Dr. Klimas – the director of the Center for Neuroimmune Studies at Nova Southeastern University, and Dr. Enlander, the Director of the Mt. Sinai ME/CFS Research Center talking about chronic fatigue syndrome treatment.

Dr. Peterson – Simmaron Research Institute

Dr. Peterson started off the treatment section with some hopeful news. Powerful new immune drugs such as immune modulators and cytokine blockers), he said, that have been and are being developed, can have dramatic effects in the right patients.

Immune therapies under development in other fields may be able to help ME/CFS patients in the future.

(Rituximab is an example of a new approach that paid off. The first of its class of drugs (monoclonal antibodies), Rituximab (Rituxan) opened up a new arena of drug development. Similarly, Ampligen and other Toll-like receptor affecting drugs offer new approaches to immune modulation. Drug repurposing efforts that are finding new uses for old drugs present some intriguing possibilities. An abortifacent, mifepristone, for instance, boosts natural killer cell functioning.

Breakthroughs in other fields are providing other opportunities. Studies documenting the role natural killer (NK) cells and the innate immune system play in preventing cancer have piqued drug developers interest enough the several NK cell boosting drugs are in development.

A Treatment Philosophy

Some ME/CFS patients, believe it or not, are relatively easy to treat. Patients with easily characterized viral infections have a clear treatment protocol waiting for them. If a parvovirus infection is found, for instance, it can be easily treated. Dr. Peterson has found that the ‘wait and see’ approach so often prescribed by doctors with ME/CFS in hopes that the patient will just get better is a mistake. He’s found that, in his group of patients, treating aggressively early is more effective.

Dr. Peterson proposes more aggressive approaches to ME/CFS early may forestall problems later if the disorder progresses.

(This brings to mind the story of someone I know whose doctor used a less strong antiviral (Valtrex) for a significant period of time only to switch to a stronger but potentially more toxic antiviral (Valcyte) after his patient deteriorated significantly. The patient then experienced a dramatic and lasting recovery.)

We’ll see that fighting pathogens in ME/CFS is not a cut-and-dried, one-size-fits-all process, and that physicians differ somewhat in their approach. In more complicated cases, for instance, Dr. Peterson is experimenting with combining immune and anti-viral treatments, and thus far is getting some encouraging results.

Dr. Peterson’s use of the antiviral Cidofovir (typically used to fight eye infections caused by cytomegalovirus in AIDS patients) demonstrates how differently even this small group of physicians sometimes approaches infections.

Cidofovir (Vistide)

“Cidofovir is not a panacea for this disease, but I think it demonstrates clearly how we should be subsetting and treating the treatable people,” Dr. Peterson.

Dr. Peterson uses Cidofovir regularly in patients with documented HHV6 and cytomegalovirus (CMV) infections. (Since he employs more spinal taps than the other doctors at the Roundtable, he probably also finds more HHV6/CMV infections.)

Gunnar Gottschalk, Dr. Peterson’s research assistant, gave an overview of the Vistide results seen in Dr. Peterson’s practice. Vistide is an expensive drug with potentially serious side effects that requires a rather complex infusion process. Most patients need to relocate to the Reno/Lake Tahoe area to get at least 12 infusions. Once they start the infusions they need to get three blood tests a week. Vistide is difficult to administer, and its no surprise that most ME/CFS docs are not using it.

Gunnar reported, however, that a retrospective analysis indicated that 70% of ME/CFS patients with HHV6/CMV infections achieved a positive response. He highlighted three patients: two achieved substantial gains in VO2 max and their viral titers dropped to zero, and all three returned to work after being disabled.

The retrospective analysis indicated significant drops in viral titers, increases in VO2 max (but not to normal) in full responders, and increased NK cell functioning in the group as a whole. Of the full responders Gunnar estimated two-thirds were able to maintain their health and one-third had to restart the treatment after 6-8 months.

When asked to compare Valcyte’s side effects with Vistides, Gunnar said that his experience was that people appeared to have a harder time on Valcyte than Vistide.

CMX001

Then there’s CMX001, the lipid-based analogue of Cidofovir produced by Chimerix that appears to be both more potent and better tolerated and which is beginning phase III (final) trials.

If CMX001 passes muster at the FDA it will present new possibilities for herpesvirus treatment in ME/CFS

Simmaron believes it has patients that will fit Chimerix’s criteria and is trying to get them into the trials. (Chimerix, by the way, generated $118 million dollars in gross proceeds when it went public a couple of months ago. Chimerix projects Phase III trials for CMX001 treatment of CMV infections in stem cell transplant patients will be finished in 2015. Since the drug is on fast-track status, the FDA will rule on it more quickly than usual once the data is in). Exactly what Vistide is doing (besides knocking down the virus) is unclear.

On the immune end, it’s possible Vistide is relieving pathogen-associated NK cell dysfunction (although Dr. Peterson thinks more than that is going on) but it’s unclear why the VO2 max readings in his patients go up. Gunnar did allude to the fact that some deconditioning probably was present in these very disabled patients, but Dr. Peterson thinks cytokine induced mitochondrial dysfunction may be occurring.

HHV6 and Chromosomal Integration

The tricky problem of HHV6 chromosomal integration should be noted. People who have HHV6 integrated into their chromosomes will always, whether the virus is active or not, test positive for HHV6 via PCR. Retrospective studies are never proof of a drug’s effectiveness; you need a placebo-controlled, double-blinded study for that. But retrospective studies do provide the pilot data that could support a trial. (I was told that Dr. Peterson’s Paris presentation generated a lot of interest.) This retrospective study is an instance of a doctor combing through and analyzing their past data, and hopefully we’ll see more of it in the future.

Graded Exercise and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

“I wish graded exercise and cognitive behavioral therapy worked,”said Dr. Peterson. After mentioning the CDC toolkit (which emphasizes CBT and GET and does not suggest ANY laboratory testing be done) Dr. Peterson said he wished CBT/GET worked, and then said it might be helpful for patients who’ve gotten well enough, but that even if it was, it’s simply not available. For all the talk on CBT and GET, Dr. Peterson knew of no trained practitioners in the US, except for one associated with Dr. Klimas’ clinic.

Dr. Nancy Klimas – Director of the Center for Neuroimmune Studies at Nova Southeastern University

“I’m a splitter not a lumper. I try very hard to find …intervention points,” Dr. Klimas

An Autonomic Nervous System Focus

Earlier this year Dr. Klimas reported that gene expression tests done during and after exercise suggested that the autonomic nervous system ‘tanks’ first in ME/CFS during exercises, and then drags down the immune system with it. Her research suggests autonomic nervous system problems trigger an ‘inflammatory cascade’ which then causes much of the post-exertional malaise that occurs in this disorder.

Dr. Klimas exercise studies suggest the problems in the autonomic nervous system trigger problems in the immune system

It was no surprise, then, to hear her say that she spends a great deal of time early on with her patients trying to get that ‘volatile’ autonomic nervous system under control. (This is an example of translational medicine; i.e., translating research results (gene expression findings) into practical applications in the clinic.) This ANS-immune cascade problem, by the way, appears to be independent of pathogen or antibody results; it’s a core issue present in many patients.

Pathogens and Immune Modulation

With regard to pathogens, Dr. Klimas said most of her patients with high antiviral loads/antibodies will be on antivirals, but generally more gentle ones such as Famvir (famciclovir). She noted, though, that a danger lurks when less-strong drugs inadequately control the virus: it can then ‘break free’ and develop resistance not just to that drug but to others in its class. A virus that develops resistance to Famvir, for instance, will probably also be resistant to Valcyte. Dr. Klimas then made a plug for controlled clinical trials of Vistide in ME/CFS.

“We don’t really know how to distinguish which group is autoimmune and which group has chronic viral activation”

One has the feeling that the only thing keeping Dr. Klimas, an immunologist, from tinkering more with the immune system in her patients was lack of sufficient data. Referring to the weird immune ying/yang often seen in ME/CFS (some parts of the immune system being over-activated and some parts under-activated), she said she’d love to be able to knock down the immune activation present and build up immune cell functioning, but that building up cell functioning in a patient whose immune system is already overcharged could trigger an autoimmune response. Since no autoantibodies have been associated with ME/CFS, it’s difficult to tell if an autoimmune response is already present.

Some indirect tests can help; high CD4/CD8 ratios, for instance, are suggestive of autoimmunity, and high CD8 levels suggest a pathogen is present. If her flow cytometry tests show high CD4/CD8 ratios, she’s ‘very nervous’ about doing anything to bump up the immune system.

Immunovir (Isoprinosine)

Dr.; Klimas has had good success with Isoprinosine in ME/CFS

Dr. Klimashas seen an 85% response rate to Immunovir biologically, and it can generally double up NK cell functioning. She obtains pharmaceutical grade Immunovir from Canada Newport Pharmaceuticals and a similar and cheaper over-the-counter preparation called Inosine is available in the US. Anecdotally she doesn’t think she’s getting as good a response from Inosine. Equilibriant – includes mushroom extracts that enhanced NK function in Chinese studies. Got lots of stuff in there.

Monoclonal Antibodies

A group of patients with extraordinary immune readings; i.e., TNF-a levels hundreds of times above normal, are prime targets for monoclonal antibody drugs (such as Etanercept) that target specific immune factors. In these patients, Dr. Klimas usually brings in a rheumatologist to get the drug.

Expect more news on this in the future, as a great number of monoclonal antibodies coming out of cancer research should be hitting the market, some of which may be able to assist NK functioning. Dr. Klimas said there’s “Some pretty cool stuff in the pipeline”.

“I want to make a plug for Low Dose Naltrexone” Dr. Klimas

Low Dose Naltrexone

Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN), not Lyrica or Cymbalta, is Dr. Klimas’ first line treatment for fibromyalgia-type pain. A recent study found that it reduced FM pain by roughly 60% without the toxicity of Lyrica and Cymbalta. She called the science behind LDN (which is not produced in a low-dose form by drug companies but is readily available at compounding pharmacies) ‘riveting’. That’s pretty strong endorsement of an ‘underground drug’ that is getting more and more attention despite its Achilles heel of not being marketed in low-dose form by Big Pharma.

Dr. Enlander – Mt Sinai ME/CFS Research Center

GcMAF

Dr. Peterson asked about GcMAF. Dr. Klimas said she hasn’t used it, but Dr. Enlander’s been using it for two years–first by injection and now mostly in his own yogurt mixture. Dr. Cheney probably may have started the GcMAF saga in ME/CFS first with a trip to Italy several years. A yogurt mix was available, but when one of Dr. Enlander’s patients tried to make it the cost was $3,000. In the end, Dr. Enlander’s bacteriologists at Mt. Sinai produced the mixture (MAF878) (and at a cost of $120!). Dr. Enlander does believe the injections are probably more effective, but he’s gotten good results for both.

Next Up: the Future! Dr. Peterson started off with hope, and in the next section we take a look at the future for ME/CFS physicians, what their three organizations are pursuing, and what they’re looking forward to in the future.

“We’re Ready”

Dr. Peterson had 2 minutes to get to the point. And he did.

After 30 years of treating approximately 9,000 patients and tired of the ‘therapeutic stagnation’ in this disease, he called on the FDA to ‘execute a therapeutic strategy’ that would pave the way for drug development. No doubt speaking not just to the FDA but to drug company reps listening, he gave them good pragmatic reasons to do so; 1,000,000 sick people in the US, a $9 billion hit to our economy yearly, a market for a diagnostic marker yielding potentially $250 million a year, a drug therapy possibly bringing in billions….

He didn’t ask the federal government to do it all on their own. The ME/CFS physician community he asserted is ready to do its part. They’re already using objective markers such as NK cell functioning, MRI’s, SPECT scans, low VO2 max tests to inform their therapies and they have formed the consortia and networks needed to take on pilot studies and multi-center Phase I, II and III clinical trials.

He was backed up by his longtime colleague, Dr. Nancy Klimas later in the meeting when she said ” much of what is needed to develop drugs for ME/CFS is ‘already in hand’; we have, she said, the ‘clinical trials groups’ who have ‘many, many years of experience with these…instruments we’ve been talking about’. “There’s really no reason to delay any further”

“There’s really no reason to delay any further” Dr. Nancy Klimas on targeted clinical trials for ME/CFS at the FDA Stakeholder’s meeting

The key problem is the large heterogeneous population that makes up the ME/CFS community. Dr. Slagle of the FDA noted that the heterogeneity of the ME/CFS patient population made it necessary for researchers to define and target specific subsets, but both Dr. Klimas and Dr. Peterson asserted they’re ready, right now, to bring targeted therapies to bear on just those subsets.

This is all about one thing; scientifically redefining ME/CFS … wherever that takes us … and as long as it leads to treatments.

Scientifically Redefining ME/CFS

Dr. Peterson’s report of Vistide’s success in a retrospective study of severely ill ME/CFS with herpesvirus infections constituted not just an attempt to provide better treatment options but to redefine this illness using biological variables; in this case a subset of patients with active cytomegalovirus infections who responded to Vistide.

The Chronic Fatigue Initiative’s Hornig/Lipkin pathogen study will, with the addition of Simmaron’s spinal fluid samples, contribute to this process if they illuminate a distinct subset of patients with active viral infections, as suggested by Madie Hornig in Florida. (Results are due within the next two months.)

Now comes convincing the pharmaceutical industry that it’s worth their while to invest in this disorder, and that’s where Dr. Peterson’s request for a ‘therapeutic strategy’ that will compel pharma to enter the market comes in. That therapeutic strategy will involve the FDA identifying endpoints for subpopulations and study designs that industry will have confidence in.

“These results show objective endpoints, subset selection, and recovery. There were complete responders and partial responders among severely ill CFS patients with HHV6 or CMV. These are encouraging results for this subset and further well-designed trials should be pursued to confirm them.” Dr. Dan Peterson

At the HHV6 Conference in Paris, France today Dr. Peterson reported on the results of a retrospective study following 65 severely ill chronic fatigue syndrome patients given a course of Vistide from 2005-2012 for HHV6 and/or HCMV infections. Despite the interest in pathogens in ME/CFS, antiviral studies are rare and this is the first one reported for this drug.

Vistide (Cidofovir) gets a lot less press than other antivirals and immunomodulators (Ampligen, Rituximab, Valcyte, Valtrex) used in this disorder probably because the drug requires a complex infusion protocol, frequent blood tests because of the rare but real possibility of serious kidney side effects and is expensive (although it can be covered by insurance).

This combination – infusions, frequent blood tests and expense – requires close physician follow-up. With Dr. Peterson’s specialized focus on patients with dysfunctional natural killer cells, however, he may be most consistent about testing for herpesviruses, which are known to be active in ME/CFS patients.

After three decades of focusing on immunologically challenged ME/CFS patients, Peterson may be more experienced at pathogen detection and treatment than any other practitioner in the field, and so it’s not surprising to find the first Vistide study coming from his office. In an interview, a former patient of his said, ‘he leaves no stones unturned’; when he finds something he goes after it ‘aggressively’.

In his presentation he stated almost 30% of his patients test positive for active HHV-6 or human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) (PCR, rapid culture, antigenemia), and a whopping 50% test positive for active Epstein-Barr virus (EBNA) infection.

Serious Drug For A Serious Illness

Vistide (Cidofovir) is FDA approved for the treatment of cytomegalovirus (CMV) in patients with AIDS. (Cytomegalovirus is a member of the herpesvirus family.) and it’s been used off-label to treat human papillomavirus, BHK virus, herpes simplex virus, vaccinia virus infections. The Black Box warning on Vistide speaks for itself

‘Cases of acute renal failure resulting in dialysis and/or contributing to death have occurred with few as one or two doses of Vistide. The “recommended dose, rate, frequency of Vistide injections must not be exceeded.”

The Study

A positive response was denoted by a negative pathogen test, improved fatigue and cognitive functioning determined by an interview with Dr. Peterson and the patient’s self reports after the trial.

Response

Full Responders – Patients were deemed to be full responders if they were able to completely return to work or to work-related activities

Partial Responders – demonstrated significant improvement of symptoms but were unable to return to work or work related activities.

Non-Responders – Did not demonstrate any measurable improvement post-treatment

Results

Dr. Peterson reported that seventy percent of patients were full (able to return to work) or partial (significant increase in functionality) responders; a very high rate of success in a illness characterized by a poor response to treatments. Only thirty percent of Vistide recipients did not have a significantly positive response to the drug. No serious side effects were seen; ironically the minor side effects seen were attributed to a drug, Probocenid, used to ensure Vistide was safe.

It’s not clear what percentage of ME/CFS patients will test positive for HHV6 or cytomegalovirus in other practices but this type of response suggests the drug may be being under-used. With the FDA Stakeholder’s meeting coming up in three weeks and the Chronic Fatigue Initiative’s pathogen discovery study results due to be published later this year, Dr. Peterson’s presentation is timely. (Unfortunately, Dr. Peterson was not invited to present at the FDA Stakeholder’s Meeting.)

Dr. Peterson called for placebo-controlled, double-blinded multi-center studies that address Vistide’s efficacy, examine its effects on the immune system and study the mechanisms of increase in VO2 max scores in ME/CFS.

Sample Cases

Dr. Peterson reported on several cases, all of whom were men – something Dr. Peterson has said he likes to do to break up the notion that only women get this disorder.

A 27 year old college graduate unable to work because of constant flu-like symptoms, weakness and marked cognitive decline (math!) presented with low NK functioning, low VO2 max and HHV6 and cytomegalovirus infection. He was able to return to work after 24 weeks of bi-weekly infusions. His VO2 max on the exercise test went up went up 23%, his NK cells a remarkable 400% and he tested negative for both viruses at the end of treatment. He had had ME/CFS for three years.

A 54 year-old former high school teacher unable to work due to extreme fatigue, flu-like symptoms and cognitive problems severe enough to keep him from being able to grade his students papers presented with active HHV6 and cytomegalovirus infections and low NK cell functioning and VO2 max. He was able to return to work after 24 weeks of bi-weekly infusions. His VO2 max increased 47%, his NK function test went up 20% and he tested negative for both viruses. He had had ME/CFS for five years.

The third patient had classic, acute onset ME/CFS which progressed to seizures. Both serum and cerebral spinal fluid tested positive for HHV6. At the end of the Cifodovir trial the viral load in his cerebral spinal fluid dropped from 3670 copies/ml to undetectable levels. Serum HHV6 was dramatically reduced (47,000 copies/ml to 3,000 copies/ml). Still symptomatic and experiencing cognitive problems, he was nonetheless able to return to work.

Conclusions

Increasing VO2 max appeared to be critical to increasing functionality as the partial responders did not increase their VO2 max while on Cifodovir. At the FDA Advisory Meeting for Ampligen Dr. Bateman noted that VO2 max test results probably were, given the exertional problems in ME/CFS, the most difficult to ‘move’ test result in this disorder.

VO2 max levels in Dr. Peterson’s patients prior to Vistide administration were exceedingly low; they appeared to in the ‘very low’ range even for people for 65 years of age and older. Vistide moved those test results about 20% on average; leaving them still, it appeared, below normal but sufficient enough for a significant increase in functionality.

A Vistide Example

The VO2 max tests suggested most patients had not returned to full health and Dr. Peterson has said he knows of few complete recoveries. I interviewed a former patient of Dr. Peterson’s several years ago. Faced with the loss of his career and the ability to care financially for his family Vistide turned out to be a godsend.

Cut down by acute onset ME/CFS, his VO2 max score topped out at an unbelievably low 15 (which qualified him for heart disease) and he was a ‘2’ out of 10 on his own energy scale (had trouble sitting up to eat). Within a month on Vistide he was at a ‘4’; the next month he was a ‘5’ and sleeping soundly for the first time since he’d gotten sick. The next month he was a ‘7’ and his VO2 max tests had doubled to 28; still far below the 44 expected at his age, but an amazing increase, never the less. Three months later he was at ‘90%’, back at work and able to do everything except exercise.

CMX001 – The Future Vistide?

Dr. Peterson didn’t report on CMX001 in Paris, but sitting in the background of all this is a analogue of Vistide called CMX001 which appears to be a safer and more effective, if not yet available, version of it. A 2012 review named CMX001 as one the ‘ten hot topics’ in antiviral research.

Chimerix Pharmaceuticals modified Vistide so that it can easily be taken up into the tissues. That means no need for infusions, no worries about kidney problem and according to Chimerix, dramatically increased effectiveness.

CMX001 has been in development for some time but just this March the FDA awarded the drug ‘fast track’ status for the prevention of cytomegalovirus infection. Phase II trials are finished and Phase III trials will get underway this year.

Given Dr. Peterson’s success with Vistide, FDA approval of CMX001 could be very good news for ME/CFS patients with HHV6, HCMV and/or possibly EBV infections.

Wrap Up

In a retrospective study Vistide proved to be effective in treating severely ill ME/CFS patients with HHV6 and HCMV infections. Dr. Peterson called for double-blinded, placebo-controlled studies to further study Vistide’s efficacy and mechanism of effect. The CFI’s pathogen discovery studies due out this year should shed light on what percentage of ME/CFS patients could benefit from Vistide.

A Vistide analogue under development called CMX001 which does not require infusions and does not effect the kidneys could be boon for ME/CFS patients with herpesvirus infections if it is approved by the FDA. CMX001 was given fast-track status by the FDA earlier this year.